33 years of service to numismatics
NI
BULLETIN
NUMISMATICS INTERNATIONAL
rOUMDIO 1t*4
Volume 33 Number 5 ISSN: 0197-3088 Price .... Two Dollars
'
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURES
The Cryptic Medals of St. Benedict, by Bob Forrest 142
Dates on Late Medieval European Coins, by Paul F. L. de Groot 146
Shanghai’s Wartime Emergency Money, by John E. Sandrock 125
DEPARTMENTS
Book Reviews & News 150
Member Notice Page 152
INSIDE N.I.
Librarian’s Report 123
Membership Chairman’s Report 123
OTHER ITEMS
A Brief History of the Netherlands and Coins - Chapter 6,
by Kees Pannekeet 148
Correction 123
Holy Coins 149
Numismatic Extracts from Selected Literature 152
Some Unique or Very Rare European Dollars #14, by John S. Davenport — 124
^ ^
Copyrighted by Numismatics International, P.O. Box 670013, Dallas, Texas USA 75367-0013
MAY 1998
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At-Large Director
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PHILIP BRANDENBURG
Chairman & Past-President
DR. HOWARD L. FORD
JACK E. LEWIS
ELMORE B. SCOTT
Past Presidents
APPOINTED STAFF
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CHARLES MUCHMORE
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Curator, NT REFERENCE COLLECTION
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PAPER MONEY COLLECTION
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122
INSIDE N.I
MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
May, 1998 Applications for Membership: The following persons have applied for
membership. If no written objections are received by July 1, 1998, their membership
will become effective on that date.
2523 Quoc Hoang Nguyen
(World Banknotes & Coins, Vietnam & French Indo-China)
2524 Morten Eske Mortensen, Drejogad 26 F501, DK-2100 Copenhagen 0,
Denmark
(Publisher of Numismatic Books, All Scandinavian and Selected World
Numismatic Literature)
LIBRARIAN’S REPORT
We would like to thank Thomas A. Schillinger for his gift of foreign sales catalogs
to the NI Library.
Granvyl G. Hulse, Jr., Book librarian
James D. Haley, Periodical Librarian
CORRECTION
In Kenneth M. MacKenzie’s article "A Silver ’Abassi from Nakhjawan Overstruck
During the Ottoman Occupation 1725-1730 A.D." published in the April 1998 issue,
there was an error in the name of the sultan in the first line on p.108. It should have
read "with the tughra of Sultan Ahmed HI" instead of Sultan Mehmed HI. The author
apologizes for this oversight and any misunderstanding that may have resulted from
the error.
123
SOME UNIQUE or VERY RARE EUROPEAN DOLLARS #14
John S. Davenport, Mount Dora, Florida, NI #602
Hanau, a county on the river Main 14 miles east of Frankfurt, divided the family
possessions in 1451 into the lines of Miinzenberg and Lichtenberg. The Miinzenberg
line became extinct in 1642 when all the lands passed to Lichtenberg, which was
located in Alsace. Philip Wolfgang (1625-1641) has a unique taler dated 1629, and
his grandson Philip Reinhard (1685-1712) has another with a 1688 date. This was
also struck in gold.
TALER, 1688
PHIL: RHIN: COM- HANOV- RHIN- &• BIP- DN- MVNTZ-
Bust R.
LICH- ET: OCHS - MAR- HV- ADV- ARGENT 1688*
S - - M • below, helmeted arms.
MM 82-326 Not in Suchier. Unique Dav. A6704
********************************************************************
124
SHANGHAI’S WARTIME EMERGENCY MONEY
John E. Sandrock, Parkton, Maryland, NI # 2383
This is a story of a little known aspect of China’s wartime history and an oft
neglected area of numismatics. The setting for our tale is the city of Shanghai and
the time 1939. Dire things are about to happen, but before we can fully appreciate
and understand them, a refresher course in Chinese currency might prove useful.
For centuries the currency of China had consisted of a jumble of bank notes and coins
issued by every conceivable authority - government, provincial and private. Most
issues circulated only within limited areas (the province of issue) or, in the case of
native banks, circulation was limited to the locale of the town or city of issue. On
the lower end of the scale, notes of the myriad pawn shops and money lenders were
heavily discounted when presented only a few blocks away or were refused
altogether! Many of these issues had little if any financial backing in the form of
reserves - most depended solely on the reputation of the person printing and
circulating the notes. This chaotic situation permitted the circulation side by side of
notes and coins denominated in cash, cents, ch’uan, coppers, fen, and chiao much to
the consternation of foreigners and to the detriment of commerce.
Silver Dollars
Steps had been taken in 1890 to modernize China’s currency system which led to the
introduction of the first steam operated press at Canton in Kwangtung province. The
mint’s initial task was to strike Chinese silver dollars to replace the tremendously
popular Mexican dollars which had been imported into China to facilitate trade. The
local merchants loved the "Mex" because of its standard fineness and weight. The
newly minted Chinese dollars retained these characteristics while at the same time
appealing to ethnic pride. The "dragon" dollars, as they came to be called, were
readily accepted by the masses. Their popularity soon led to similar issues being
struck by other provincial mints in Wuchang, Peiyang and Foochow. By the turn of
the century additional mints were operating in Nanking, Hankow, Anking, Chengtu,
Mukden and Kirin. It was not long before these mints produced subsidiary coinage
as well.
Standardization of the currency system was not possible, however, as long as two
units of silver currency - the tael and the dollar - circulated side by side. Since the
tael unit differed in weight and fineness from one locality to another, beside which
existed a number of fictitious taels used only for accounting purposes; calculating
their relative exchange rates presented an exceedingly complicated problem.
This chaotic situation came to an end when the tael system was abolished in 1933.
The Standard Silver Dollar Coinage Law thus promulgated called for a silver dollar
of 880 fineness, containing 23.49 grams of silver. This new national dollar was to
be known as the yuan and was to replace all provincial silver dollars then in
circulation. These moves brought about the first notable monetary reform in China’s
history.
125
The Mexican dollar (top), imported into China to facilitate trade, proved very popular
over the years. Chinese silver, known as the "dragon" dollars (bottom), gradually
replaced the "Mex" after the first mint was opened in Canton in 1890.
After several false starts the Shanghai Mint, utilizing plant equipment and coin presses
ordered in the United States, formally opened on March 1 1933. The now obsolete
silver sycee taels, or shoes, comprised ninety percent of the silver thus converted into
legal tender, the remainder being bullion or demonetized silver dollars or subsidiary
silver coins. Silver dollars were in great demand following the abolition of the sycee
tael, as production strained to keep up with requirements.
The first national silver dollar issued by the Shanghai mint has an interesting story
to tell. The proposed design of the new coin called for the head of Sun-Yat-Sen, the
founder of modem China, to be shown on the obverse and a Chinese junk under sail
to appear on the reverse. After reviewing different design submissions the winner
was chosen and the work assigned to the new mint at Shanghai. The winning design
showed Sun-Yat-Sen on the obverse together with an artistic depiction of a junk
sailing into a rayed sun with three geese flying overhead. This coin, dated the 21st
Year of the Republic (1932), was actually struck between March and June 1933.
Over fifty-one thousand of these pieces entered circulation before they were
withdrawn and the coin redesigned. The reason was patriotic. By this time, the
Chinese-Japanese troubles over Manchukuo had broken out and mint officials feared
the sun would be misinterpreted as the "rising run" of Japan, and the geese as enemy
aircraft. The redesigned coins continued to be minted in 1933 and 1934 sans the
"rising sun" and "aircraft"! The 1932 issue is rather scarce today with the other dates
decidedly more plentiful. By 1935 China was off the silver standard, with most of
these dollars finding their way into the melting pot and the silver sold abroad.
126
The Sun-Yat-Sen standard silver dollar. First introduced in 1932, its reverse design
contained three geese flying over a junk which was sailing into the rising sun. Since
the Japanese invasion of north China occurred shortly thereafter, mint officials had
the offending symbology removed fearing the general public would construe the
geese as raiding aircraft and the rising sun as Japan. On following strikes in 1933
and 1934 the reverse showed only the junk. Mintage of these beautiful pieces ceased
in 1935 when China abandoned the silver standard.
Subsidiary Coinage
China’s Minister of Finance, H. H. Kung, turned his attention next to standardizing
the country’s subsidiary coinage. In 1935 he announced the replacement of the
confusing mixture of twenty cent pieces, silver dimes and various coppers then
circulating with a standard coinage based on the decimal system. Thereupon the
Shanghai mint was instructed to strike nickel coins of five, ten and twenty cents and
copper coins of one-half cent and one cent of uniform design. These coins made their
initial appearance to the general public in February 1936.
All five denominations were produced by the Shanghai mint in 1936. After that date
the one-half cent coin was dropped due to its unpopularity and relative worth.
Production of one, five, ten and twenty cent pieces continued throughout 1937 (the
one cent only), 1938 and 1939 after which the one cent coin was struck in aluminum
owing to the advent of inflation. In 1939 a two cent piece was added to meet the need
for small change. Five, ten and twenty cent coins continued to be struck from 1940
through 1942 by which time the need for a fifty cent specimen manifested itself. This
coin was minted over the short span of two years after which spiraling inflation took
its toll. An interesting variation exists in the production of the ten cent coin in that
after 1939 the mint changed the character used for "ten" from the official style of
writing to the more popular simple style ("+") of expressing the value ten. Eventually
all coinage ceased to circulate as higher and higher denominations of paper money
took over as the sole medium of exchange.
It should be mentioned here that all work had to be suspended at the Central
Government Mint in August 1937 due to the outbreak of war in Shanghai. The staff
was able, however, to dismantle and remove the bulk of its machinery before the
Japanese army had a chance to occupy the mint buildings. The production of
subsidiary coins was then continued at branch mints in the interior located in Chengtu,
Chungking, Wuchang, Kweilin and Lanchow. Production was spread evenly across
all branch mints with the exception of Kweilin which produced only ten and twenty
cent pieces.
127
The Republic of China’s standardized coin issue was of a very pleasing design and
extremely well struck. The one-half, one and two cent coins displayed on their
obverse a depiction of the republican Chinese sun within a wide border with
"Republic of China" and the date appearing above. The reverse of all denominations
was uniform. It shows a bold rendering of an ancient square-footed spade coin, or
"pu", such as those dating to the Chou dynasty (1122-255 B.C.). A large number of
these pus have, over time, been unearthed in the Chang-tzu and T’un-lin districts of
Shansi province. A wide border containing the coin’s denomination shown in two
characters to left and right of the pu completes the design. Several curious anomalies
add interest to the series. (See Table 1.) From the outset in 1936, production at the
Shanghai mint could not keep up with demand necessitating the contracting out of
additional production to the mint in Vienna, Austria. These coins are identical in all
respects with the exception of the addition of a mint letter "A" beneath the pu to
identify them. Production was limited to five, ten and twenty cent pieces. The
Tientsin mint was also pressed into service to alleviate demand for these coins. In
1936 this mint produced one million ten cent coins identical to those being struck in
Shanghai, yet it is possible today to tell them apart! This incongruity stems from the
fact that insufficient nickel metal being then available at the Tientsin mint, a large
quantity of diverse metals were alloyed with the nickel to produce coins of only
eighteen percent nickel. The heavily alloyed coins struck in Tientsin proved to be
non-magnetic, while the pure nickel ones (95 percent pure nickel, actually) produced
in Shanghai were attracted to a magnet.
The standard issue of subsidiary coinage released in 1936 included 1/2, 1, 5, 10 and
20 cent pieces. Later 2 Cent and 50 cent coins were struck. Shown here are the 1
cent (Yr. 25) typical of the 1/2, 1 and 2 cent design; the 50 cent coin of Yr. 31
(1939) which is representative of the 5, 10, 20 and 50 cent issues; and a pattern one
dollar coin of 1936 which never saw production.
128
Table 1. China's Standardized National Coinage
Denomination
Year
Metal
Mintage*
Remarks
1/2 cent
25 (1936)
bronze
64.720
1 cent
25 (1936)
bronze
311.780
26 (1937)
n
307.198
27 (1938)
it
12.000
28 (1939)
ii
75.000
2 cents
28 (1939)
brass
300.000
5 cents
25 (1936)
nickel
72.844
Shanghai mint
25 (1936)
ii
20.000
Vienna mint
25 (1936)
ii
7
with "P'ing"
25 (1936)
ii
7
with "Ch'ing"
27 (1938)**
ii
34.325
28 (1939)
n
6.000
29 (1940)
c. nickel
57.000
30 (1941)
ii
96.000
10 cents
25 (1936)
nickel
73.866
Shanghai mint
25 (1936)
ii
60.000
Vienna mint
25 (1936)
it
1.000
Tientsin mint
27 (1938)**
it
110.203
28 (1939)
ii
68.000
29 (1940)
c. nickel
68.000
reeded edge
29 (1940)
ii
in above
plain edge
30 (1941)
it
254.000
reeded edge
30 (1941)
ii
in above
plain edge
31 (1942)
ii
10.000
20 cents
25 (1936)
nickel
49.620
Shanghai mint
25 (1936)
ii
40.000
Vienna mint
27 (1938)**
u
61.248
28 (1939)
ii
38.000
31 (1942)
c. nickel
32.300
50 cents
31 (1942)
c. nickel
57.000
32 (1943)
ii
4.000
Notes: * in millions
** the absence of 1937 dated five, ten and twenty-five cent
coins is due to the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and
the evacuation of the mint to the interior in August 1937.
129
Three other deviations appeared in the five cent series. Two varieties of this coin
were minted in Shanghai in 1936. On one the character "P’ing" appears on both sides
of Sun-Yat-Sen’s portrait, while the other bears the inscription "Ch’ing" in the same
location. It is not known to the author why this was done. The final oddity concerns
the ten cent coin of 1941 which appears with both reeded and plain edges.
Emergency Money
In the late 1930s one could stand atop Shanghai’s tallest building, Broadway Mansion,
and gaze down upon the city extending to the horizon in all directions. No wonder
the Japanese made it their headquarters in 1941! From this vantage point the
Whangpoo River and the Soochow Creek were clearly discernible. Shanghai was a
thriving congested city full of bicyclists weaving between cars and buses, the tinkling
of their bells mixing with the deep blasts from the ships horns of ocean-going
freighters in the Yangtze River beyond.
To the north of Soochow Creek lay the International Settlement, home to foreigners
engulfed in a sea of Chinese. Here three million English, French, Americans,
Germans, Russians, Italians and assorted others were jammed into twelve and a half
square miles.
Beginning in 1842, following the First Opium War, China was increasingly taken over
and exploited by the West, gradually being reduced to a state bordering on
colonization. Because of its commercial importance to the West, Shanghai
symbolized this aggression and submission. Following the Opium Wars, China set
aside three parcels of land for the use of the "foreign devils" - one British, one
American and the third French. In 1863 the Americans joined with the British to
create the International Settlement. The concession enjoyed its own separate political
status, courts, municipal council and police force - all the trappings of
extraterritoriality. By treaty the International Settlement had been leased in perpetuity
from the Chinese. Above all the settlement was a place international in character,
politically neutral, and a place where the rights and privileges inherent in
extraterritoriality were strictly enforced.
Over the years the settlement increased in size ever extending into the surrounding
countryside. By the 1920s Shanghai had become the most Westernized city in China,
enjoying some of its best years. Within the walls of the settlement foreigners enjoyed
an existence of leisure, indulging in their own pleasure while beyond its walls, the
Chinese peasant lived a subsistence level existence of hard labor with little hope for
a better life. Constant fighting surrounding the settlement (1927: Kuomingtang versus
Communists; 1932: Japanese occupation of the city; and 1937: outright war between
China and Japan) did nothing to diminish the good life within. The fighting affected
neither the commerce nor the river traffic upon which Shanghai depended. Foreigners
within the settlement were so complacent that they referred to the 1932 trouble as "the
war across the bridge" (Soochow Creek), and the 1937 Japanese occupation as "the
war at the end of the street" (edge of the settlement boundary)! Of course the world
was caving in around them and the Chinese were enduring unthinkable suffering. For
the time being their enclave was secure because the Japanese war machine in 1937-
130
1940 wasn’t yet ready to take on the world powers of Britain and America. In awe
of the British, the Japanese hesitated to take what they wanted. Choosing to pay lip
service to the sovereignty of her future enemies instead, Japan developed a hands-off
policy, and the life within the International Settlement went on pretty much as usual.
The situation beyond the Settlement walls presented a stark contrast, however.
Shanghai’s industrial enterprises suffered irreparable losses in consequence of the
undeclared war. The northern districts of Hongkew and Chapel were particularly hard
hit. Incessant warfare and bombing made any kind of commerce an impossibility.
Cotton mills, ironworks, soap factories, woolen mills, tobacco factories, breweries,
rubber and printing works, shipyards and wharves all shut down as if on command.
Work ceased abruptly everywhere, sending 800,000 refugees swarming into the
International Settlement. Many factories were destroyed in the course of actual
fighting while many others burned to the ground. The electric company and
waterworks were one of the first casualties of Japanese bombs, depriving greater
Shanghai’s citizens of light and water. Coal, transport and food were in short supply.
The industrial might of greater Shanghai had been brought to a standstill in a matter
of weeks. Faced with all this, the Chinese people refused to abandon hope. They
stood as one solid body behind their government with a renewed determination to
resist the Japanese enemy, understanding that not to do so would in all probability
result in their permanent extinction as a nation.
The first to feel the effect of the turning tide was the city’s commerce. Shanghai
failed to completely bounce back after 1937. The surrounding countryside was
devastated in the wake of the Japanese army’s march on the republican capital of
Nanking. In an effort to deny the mighty Yangtze to the Japanese navy, chains were
stretched across the river effectively ending commercial traffic as well. Japanese
authorities took over the Chinese Maritime Customs and commencing in 1938
dismantled factories, sending the machinery back to Japan for scrap.
Little by little the standard coinage Minister Kung had worked so hard to create began
to disappear from general circulation. Metal currency in Shanghai and throughout
central China was aggressively siphoned off by the Japanese to feed her war machine
back home. What better way to augment scarce supplies of copper and nickel than
to assign the enemy’s coins to the crucibles of their war industry? By mid 1939 the
shortage of coin within the International Settlement became so acute that merchants
were no longer able to carry on business as usual. The shortage of coins forced
merchants to quote prices of commodities in round numbers much to the disadvantage
of the poor. Clearly, something had to be done.
One must bear in mind that even at this time (1939-1940) a dollar was quite a large
sum of money to millions of Chinese, in extreme cases equating to a week’s wages.
It became obvious then that a great need existed for smaller units of currency. Even
the lowly cent was further divided by the Chinese into approximately three coppers,
and in rural areas the copper further divided into ten cash.
The merchants of Shanghai, isolated from the central government in Chungking, and
tired of losing business brought about by the shortage of small change and not being
131
unsympathetic to the suffering of their poor clients, very soon devised ways of
overcoming this obstacle. Their approach was three fold. First they placed into
circulation certain tokens already in existence for specific purposes. This category
included telephone tokens, bus tokens and the slugs commonly used in slot machines.
Their quantity being very limited, this expedient hardly made a dent in the situation,
however. Even postage stamps were used until the postal authorities stepped in and
forbade it. Amazingly these various and sundry pieces were readily accepted at the
assumed value of "ten cents" by the money starved population. The next expedient
was to manufacture new coins varying in value from one to ten cents. These "coins",
or tokens, were usually made of aluminum and rarely of brass. The manufacture of
coins being both timely and expensive defeated this approach as it became clear that
insufficient quantities could be made to meet the demand.
In 1948 my good friend Harry Atkinson, a retired army colonel, was in Nanking with
the American advisory group. He managed to leave just one step ahead of the
advancing Communists. His familiarity with the Shanghai tokens was extensive. At
one time Harry bought a large collection of these pieces from an old man who was
selling out and wanted to go to Taiwan. Unfortunately, they were all stolen in a
burglary many years later. Harry states that they were made in local machine shops -
some of them being as large as poker chips. Metals used were bronze, aluminum
and nickel. Americans adopted the practice also as various military clubs, such as the
Fourth Marines, issued their own tokens.
r
NV 01(126
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A ter
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Money of the Navy Y.M.C.A. and the French tramway. Typical of these emergency
issues, all notes no matter how lowly the denomination, bore serial numbers.
This leads us to the third method employed by the Shanghai merchants to alleviate
the coin shortage - that of printing small change paper money. The coupon solution
was the one relied upon by the overwhelming number of shops and firms. All kinds
of enterprises availed themselves of this opportunity to alleviate the desperate need
for small change. They included theaters, department stores, tramways, bus
companies, hotels, dry good stores, coffee shops, butchers, fish markets and a myriad
of others. The stouthearted and strait forward manner in which the Shanghai
merchants rose to meet this challenge deserves attention. Small change paper money,
or script, was certainly inexpensive to print. Larger firms printed them by the tens
of thousands. The smaller shops sometimes relied solely on scraps of paper
impressed with a rubber stamp. They all bore one characteristic in common, however
132
Notes typical of the smaller Chinese shops. Most carried the "chop", or seal, of the
manager, or in many cases were handsigned by the manager himself.
133
- that of accountability. Almost without exception these small scraps of paper carried
a serial number on their obverse. In addition, the lesser known firms and shops
carried the handwritten signature of the manager as well. The smaller shops were
usually content to either sign the notes or apply their "chop" after serializing them and
affixing their rubber stamp. All this for one cent! Such a system meant endless work
for them, but the merchants of Shanghai met the challenge nonetheless.
Paper also being somewhat at a premium, some interesting examples may be found
of script printed on the inside of used cigarette cartons and old shoe boxes and in
other cases on discarded theater tickets. The cursory wording on some of these notes
is also interesting - and indicative of the times. Some examples: "This note can be
exchanged for full value after the tension is removed, or for full value in trade at any
time at this restaurant". Another: "We will return (this note) when the national cents
notes are issued."
Some firms placed limiting conditions upon their notes. The Majestic Dry Cleaning
Company stated that their note was "Good for ten cents in payment of accounts"
while a note of the Palace Hotel magnanimously stated "This coupon is good for
twenty cents while on the hotel’s premises". The Sincere Company Ltd., living up
to its name, stated on its one cent ‘national currency’ bearer coupon: "This coupon
is exchangeable at face value for goods only and being ‘Bearer Certificated’. No
registration of loss will be entertained. This coupon is not valid unless it bears the
official stamp of the company". It did. A two cent coupon of the Compagnie
Francaise de Tramways et d’Eclairage Electrique de Shanghai, a streetcar company
operating in the French Concession, stated that its money was good at any place along
the company’s route as long as it was used before midnight 30 June 1940: "Ce
coupon sera accepte en palement du prix des places sur les viotures de la compagnie,
pour la valeur deux cents. II cessera le 30 Juin 1940 a 24 H."
The Sincere Company’s money was full of negative caveats including one which
stated: "No loss will be entertained". This note is typical of those printed in both
Chinese and English.
134
The fact that the Shanghai money shortage was being felt as early as 1939 is evident
on the notes of the Auditorium, a well known sports palace featuring the then very
popular jai-alai games. It issued a series of well designed notes of ten and twenty
cents (and perhaps other values) upon which this statement appeared on the reverse
of the 20 cent note: "The Auditorium promises to pay the bearer the sum of twenty
dollar cents Shanghai currency on presentation of this note at the auditorium on
meeting days, or at the registered office of Parc des Sports (Auditorium), 1 Rue
Montauban. Dated at Shanghai 1st December, 1939".
Ten cent note of the "Auditorium", a well known Shanghai sports arena.
135
The size of these notes bore no relation to their value. Many were printed in as many
as three colors. English was the most prevalent language, although some vouchers
appeared in French while most of the smaller native shops were printed entirely in
Chinese. One of my favorites is a "Good for Ten Cents” coupon of the Doumer
Theater which, so as not to miss out on any possible business, had their script printed
in English on the obverse and Chinese on the reverse, stating "In view of the present
shortage of small money this coupon is worth ten cents at the theater where it will be
taken instead of cash at any time until 1 April, 1940. This coupon is only valid with
the signature of the owner of the Doumer Theater."
THE SUN CO • <S’HAU LTD.
CREDO COUPON
€ 1 JfcSk
ONE
CENT
»*#»***
Typical of the emergency paper money released by the Shanghai merchants are this
Sun Company, Ltd. piece and the chit of the Asia Theaters, Inc. The movie house
chain proudly displayed the names of its Shanghai theaters on the reverse: the
Grand, Nanking, Rialto, Cathay and Metropol.
So the city of Shanghai in this manner overcame its difficulties. Each shop, large or
small, intent on relieving its own requirements, contributed to the overall availability
of small change. Eventually the flood of notes forthcoming became sufficient to keep
the lesser wheels of commerce turning. It must be said that the system was a great
success and that despite overwhelming obstacles, - it worked! Not everyone profited
from the scheme however as the poor rickshaw coolies, at the bottom of the economic
scale, had to take their fares in any way they could. When they went to the money
shop to exchange their fistful of nondescript chits into something more tangible they
found that such paper was heavily discounted. Paper small money continued to be
issued and to circulate until the International Settlement fell to the Japanese army on
8 December, 1941.
136
It goes without saying that after the fall of Shanghai none of this script was redeemed.
The vast majority of this money has been lost forever. Nevertheless, enough pieces
have survived to this day to allow us an insight into these troubled times and the
ingenious way in which Necessity became the Mother of invention.
The central government in far away Chungking recognized the dire straits which had
befallen the Shanghai population but were slow to do anything about it. Not until the
situation became acute did the government authorize the Central Bank of China to
produce a series of small denomination bank notes specifically for Shanghai. These
notes were printed in denominations of one, five ten and twenty cents. Although
bearing dates of 1939 and 1940, they did not commence appearing on the streets of
Shanghai until February, 1940.
Central Government in Chungking authorized "small change" note
of 5 Cents for specific use in Shanghai.
The smaller denomination one and five fen (cent) notes bear as their central vignette
a picture of a nine storied pagoda together with the value in cartouches at right center
and at the four corners. The Chinese date ”28th Year of the Republic" (1939) appears
137
below. Their reverse depicts the standard republican one and five fen "spade" coins
respectively. The one cent note is red, while its five cent companion was printed in
green. The work was contracted out to two local firms, the Union Printing Company
and Union Publishers and Printers whose imprint appears on the notes. Thus, two
varieties of each exist.
Central Government in Chungking authorized "small change" note
of 20 Cents for specific use in Shanghai.
The two larger denominations of one and two chiao (ten and twenty cents) were
printed by the Chung Hwa Book Company, Ltd. and are of superior workmanship.
Both show Sun-Yat-Sen in an oval at right with their denominations in cartouches,
as mentioned before. The Chinese date on the obverse of these notes reads 29th
Year of the Republic" while on the reverse the date "1940" is shown. Unlike the two
smaller denominations, the printed signatures of the General Manager and the
Assistant General Manager appear on these notes. All carry the title "The Central
Bank of China" in Chinese on the obverse and in English on the reverse. The one
chiao specimen is light green while the two chiao note is blue. Both notes are very
common and can be easily found by collectors today attesting to the quantities
undoubtedly remaining when the Japanese authorities took over Shanghai.
138
Surrender Passes
One other aspect of this story is of more than passing interest. While it has no
bearing on Shanghai directly, it is nevertheless an integral part of the overall
numismatic picture. I refer here to the surrender passes printed by the Japanese
puppet Reformed Government of the Republic of China. These interesting pieces,
rarely encountered today, constitute a part of many important Chinese collections.
After the Japanese attack on Shanghai in 1937 her Central China Expeditionary Army
swept up the Yangtze river valley to attack Nanking, the then capital of nationalist
China and the seat of Chang kai shek’s government. Despite a pledge that Nanking
would never fall, the government and troops panicked precipitating a mass exodus of
civilians and garrison troops. The Japanese bombarded the city with leaflets
promising decent treatment for all civilians remaining there. Nonetheless, the
invading troops on 13 December 1937, upon entering Nanking, unleashed upon the
defeated troops and helpless civilians terror, destruction and cruelty that has had few
parallels. The wanton violence lasted three weeks and took over 60,000 lives. This
action has come to be known as "The Rape of Nanking".
Once Nanking had fallen, the Japanese moved to install yet another "puppet" regime
similar to those previously established in Manchukuo, Mongolia and North China (see
my article entitled "Japanese Sponsored Coin and Bank Note Issues for the Occupied
Regions of China" which appeared in the March 1997 issue of the NI Bulletin). The
new governing body was given the somewhat grandiloquent name "Reformed
Government of the Republic of China". Its area of authority was to extend over all
of central and south China. One Liang Hongzhi, a Chinese with Japanese sympathies,
was installed as President on 28 March 1938. Chronically short of money his regime
was forced to rely upon an alliance with the gangsters who ran the rackets in
Shanghai for much of its income. Finally the Japanese came to the rescue by
establishing the Central Reserve Bank of China in March 1941, which was to
ultimately serve central and south China as the sole bank of issue. Initially, the bank
notes met a poor reception among the local population and in Shanghai’s International
Settlement, still under the influence of Chungking, the new notes were refused
altogether.
In an effort to swell the ranks of its Japanese controlled puppet army, the Reformed
Government hit upon the idea of printing surrender leaflets and good conduct passes
to entice the morale stricken Nationalist troops to come over to their side. Issued by
the Nanking government’s Military Affairs Committee, these surrender leaflets took
the form and appearance of previously issued Central Bank of China "fapai" (legal
tender notes). It is known that the lowly five cent note prepared to alleviate the
Shanghai coin shortage and an obsolete one yuan note of 1936 were used for this
purpose. Other examples may exist. The propaganda use of these notes must
therefore equate to the year 1940 - subsequent to the issue of the five cent note
(1939) and prior to the runaway inflation commencing in 1942. For sake of
comparison it should be pointed out that a rickshaw fare costing sixty cents in 1939
had escalated to four hundred dollars by late 1942. To be of any use for propaganda
purposes the notes scattered over Nationalist lines by Japanese aircraft had to have
sufficient value to be picked up and examined!
139
Front and back sides of a surrender pass guaranteeing safe conduct through the lines.
This leaflet was the product of the newly created Reformed Government of the
Republic of China, a Japanese controlled political entity set up to administer the
"liberated" area of China. Its purpose was to encourage defection of Nationalist
soldiers from Chiang kai shek. Note that the face of the note is identical to the five
cent Shanghai emergency issue of the Central Bank of China.
The surrender pass most usually encountered (although very rarely) is the green five
cent piece, the face of which was printed to resemble its genuine counterpart. Harry
Atkinson, having such a note in his collection, reports that this pass was also issued
in a light-blue ink. The back of the leaflet consisted of a reproduction of the one
yuan note printed by Thomas de la Rue dated 1936 which had been modified by
removing the central and right hand vignettes to accommodate the propaganda
message. All bear the serial number 558829 N/E. A translation of the message
appearing on the reverse of these notes is as follows:
Caption: Certificate for Returning Soldiers
Left hand vertical: Welcome. Join the peace movement.
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Right hand vertical: Protect safety and life.
Nine column central message:
This certificate is issued to those who volunteer to join the peace movement
of the New Central Government before a circular is issued by the Military
Council. Agreement has been made with Japanese troops at the front that this
certificate will provide for protection if produced to the Japanese patrol and
also for conveniences for coming back to the New Central Government.
Issued by the Military Council of the Nanking Government
(Translation courtesy of Harry Atkinson)
Having passed through Shanghai during the war while experiencing some of China’s
history first hand, I have always held a fascination for Asian numismatics. I have
enjoyed researching this little known story of Shanghai’s emergency money and in
shedding new light on this seldom reported and often neglected field.
Bibliography
Ball, J. Dyer, Things Chinese, Singapore, 1949, The International Press.
Chen, Jian H., "Development of the Central Mint", The Journal of East Asian
Numismatics, New York, Vol. HI, Summer 1996.
Jacobs, Wayne L., "The Universal Dollar of Republican China", Chinese Coins.
Montreal, 1969.
Lee, Frederic, Currency, Banking and Finance in China, Washington, D.C., 1926,
Government Printing Office.
Miyashita, Tadao, The Currency and Financial System of Mainland China, Tokyo,
1966, Daini Insatsu Printing Company.
O’Neill, Hugh B., Companion to Chinese History, Oxford, 1987, Facts on File
Publications.
Rand, Peter, China Hands, New York, 1995, Simon and Shuster.
Sergeant, Harriet, Shanghai, New York, 1990, Crown Publishers, Inc.
Spence, Jonathan D., The Search for Modern China, London, 1990, W. W. Norton
and Company.
Tong, Hollington K., China Handbook 1937 - 1943, New York, 1943, The Macmillan
Company.
Woodhead, H. G. W., The China Yearbook - 1939, Shanghai, 1939, The North China
Daily News and Herald, Ltd.
141
O0irvv
THE CRYPTIC MEDALS OF ST. BENEDICT
Bob Forrest, Manchester, England, NI # 2382
The medals come in various shapes, sizes and styles, but the basic format is the same:
St. Benedict on one side, and a very puzzling array of letters on the other. Indeed,
so cryptic is the lettering round the outside of the reverse that even the Benedictines
lost track of it, and it was only in 1647 that a fifteenth century manuscript came to
light that gave back the explanation of them. Two examples of the medals are shown
in Figs. 1 & 2, the first in copper, the second in brass. Both are shown 1 Vi times
actual size. As it took me quite some time to discover what this cryptic medal
signified, it may be worthwhile to set down its significance and symbolism here. A
full account can be found in the works cited in note 1. Let us deal with the common
reverse of the two medals first (2).
Fig. 1 Fig. 2
The letters C.S.P.B. in the angles of the cross signify Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti,
that is, "The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict." The letters C.S.S.M.L. on the
vertical bar of the cross, combined with the N.D.S.M.D. on the horizontal bar, signify:
Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux
Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux
That is:
May the Holy Cross be my light
Let not the Dragon be my guide.
The letters round the edge of the medal, starting at one o’clock, read
V.R.S.N.S.M.V.S.M.Q.L.I.V.B. which signify:
Vade Retro, Satana!
Nunquam Suade Mihi Vana.
Sunt Mala Quae Libas;
Ipse Venena Bibas.
142
which means:
Begone, Satan!
Suggest not vain things to me.
Evil is the cup thou offerest;
Drink thou thine own poison.
The obverse of the medal in Fig. 1 has some interesting additional details. Its
marginal legend reads EIUS IN OBITU NOSTRO PRAESENTIA MUNIAMUR,
meaning, "May his presence protect us in the hour of our death" (3). In the field is
CRUX S. PATRIS BENEDICTI, meaning the same as the C.S.P.B. on the reverse,
namely, "Cross of the Holy Father Benedict" In the exergue is EX S.M. CASINO
MDCCCLXXX, signifying that this is the Jubilee Medal issued by the Monastery of
Monte Cassino (4) in 1880 to celebrate the 1400th anniversary of the birth of St.
Benedict (5).
The open book which the Saint holds is inscribed with the word AUSCULTA, which
is the first word of the great "Rule of St. Benedict", a book consisting of seventy
three chapters of mles and regulations for the ideal monastic life.
To the right of St Benedict on this medal, and to the left of him on the medal in Fig.
2, is a raven with a bun in its beak. This relates to an occasion on which a malicious
heretic named Florentius sent St. Benedict a poisoned loaf. By divine insight the
saint realised that the loaf was poisoned and ordered the raven (which he was
accustomed to feed each day) to take it away in the name of Jesus Christ, and to cast
it "in some place where no man might find it." (Florentius, seeing that he could not
harm the body of the saint, later sought to do harm to his soul and those of his
followers by hiring seven girls to dance naked in the cloister of the monastery. This
episode is not represented on the medals, unfortunately.)
To the left of St. Benedict in Fig. 1 is a cracked chalice with what appears to be a
serpent emerging from it. This relates to another episode in which some monks "fell
into a great rage" on account of St. Benedict’s strict monastic discipline, and decided
to get rid of him by giving him some poisoned wine to drink. But when the saint
blessed the glass of wine by making the sign of the cross over it, it shattered "as if
he had thrown a stone against it." The shattered glass is represented on this medal,
with the fleeing serpent presumably signifying the venom or poison thus spilt.
With these repeated references to unsuccessful attempts to poison St. Benedict it is
perhaps not surprising that the medals are reputed to be efficacious in warding off the
effects of poison. Its cryptic and cruciform incantations against Satan have likewise
led to the medal’s reputation for combatting the machinations of witches and
magicians, and it is said to be much valued by missionaries in pagan lands, who have
dubbed it "the devil-chasing medal". Less clear is why the medal affords protection
against storms and lightning, but apparently it does. Not surprisingly, many
miraculous cures are attributed to the medal’s power - or rather, to the power of the
saint behind the medal, for van Speybrouck is careful to stress that "we do not ascribe
any unknown or hidden power to the medal, a power which the superstitious ascribe
to their charms...", all of which recalls the thorny issues raised back in "Religious
143
Medals V" (6). Nevertheless, he tells us, the medals can be placed on wounds or
dipped in water which can then be given to the sick or injured to drink (7). Nor are
its curative and protective powers restricted to people: sick animals are said to benefit
from it, as are fields infested with harmful insects, for medals hung up in stables or
barns, or else buried out in the fields (8), are said to work wonders.
So, the next time you see St. Benedict and his cryptic medal peering up at you from
a rummage tray (and one of mine did turn up in a 25 pence box!), think well before
you pass it by!
Notes.
(1) This account of the medal is taken mostly from a little booklet entitled The
Life of St. Benedict by St. Gregory the Great, published by TAN books in
1995. Pages 58-68 deal with the medal. This booklet is extracted from a
book. Father Paul of Moll: A Flemish Benedictine and Wonder-Worker of the
Nineteenth Century by Edward van Speybrouck, originally published in 1910,
but reprinted by TAN in 1979.
I have also taken some information from a leaflet which was and perhaps still
is given out with any St. Benedict medal sold by the Benedictine Monastery
of Christ the King, in Bramley Road, London. Unfortunately this leaflet has
been in use for so long that no-one there can remember where the original
came from! A very similar leaflet is or was issued in the U.S.A. by the
Liturgical Press of Collegeville, Minnesota.
(2) As a collector, I tend to call the face of the medal bearing the image of the
saint the obverse, and the cryptic face the reverse. Religious works, however,
seem often, though not always, to swap these terms over.
(3) St. Benedict has always been regarded as the patron of a happy death,
apparently because of the triumphal nature of his own death: despite a burning
fever he held himself erect before God in his beloved church, dying in the
very act of worship.
(4) About fifty miles north-west of Naples, Monte Cassino (it is spelt with only
one S on the medal in Fig. 1) was the site of a Temple of Apollo, still used
for heathenish practices by "the foolish country people" in St. Benedict’s day.
In about AD 529, the saint came to the Temple, overthrew its altar and
smashed its idol, then set fire to the neighbouring Sacred Groves of Apollo.
The old Temple was later converted into a chapel of St. Martin, the site of the
former altar becoming a chapel of St. John. Monte Cassino subsequently
became St. Benedict’s greatest monastery, the saint himself being buried there.
(5) Note, however, that there are later copies of this medal - eg I have a nice
shiny aluminium version of it which was clearly made long after 1880. The
medal in Fig. 2, incidentally, is earlier than the Jubilee Medal, being signed
on the obverse "L. Penin a Lyon", thus dating it to the 1860’s. Medals of St.
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Benedict apparently have a very long history, though for some time I myself
had never seen any older than perhaps the eighteenth century. However,
whilst this article was awaiting publication, my friend Juan Jos6 Moreno y
Casanova sent me what is probably a seventeenth century specimen, in bronze,
pictured here as Fig. 3 (actual size). The Christian Monogram IHS appears
to be surmounted by an anchor cross, though this is not absolutely certain on
account of heavy wear on the medal as a whole, and in particular around the
base of the anchor.
(6) N I Bulletin, December 1997, pp.305-310.
(7) Readers should be aware, however, that the medals need to be blessed by a
priest to be fully efficacious. It is clearly well worth having this done, though,
for as both the leaflets mentioned in note 1 tell us:
"By a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites (March 6th, 1959), the
Blessing of St. Maur over the sick is permitted to be given with a Medal of
St. Benedict instead of with a relic of the True Cross, since the latter is
difficult to obtain."
(8) One of my St. Benedict medals, I am told, is a metal detector find from
France. In idle moments I wonder if it was simply lost or whether it was
actually buried in a field somewhere to protect the crops from insects and such
like.
145
DATES ON LATE MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN COINS
Paul F. L. de Groot, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, NI # 1786
It took the Christian West centuries longer than the Muslim world before it dated its
coins, and even longer before all coins were dated.
At the time Latin was the language normally used on coins. In the beginning as
much as possible of the date was spelled out. It was impossible to do that in full,
especially as space had also to be found for the formula ANNO DOMINI (IN THE
YEAR OF OUR LORD). As a result a combination of words and Roman numerals
was used. The latter consist of letters, I representing one, II two, III three, EHI four,
V five, VI six, VII seven, VIII eight, VTHI nine, X ten, XX twenty, XXX thirty, XL
forty, L fifty, C one hundred, CC two hundred, etc., D five hundred and M one
thousand. The combination IX for nine was known, but IV for four apparently was
not used until the 17th century. (As far as I know Bogislas XIV of Pomerania, who
died in 1637, was the first one to use XIV on his coins; even Louis XTV of France,
who died in 1715, generally used XIIII.)
Aachen in Germany, near the border with the Netherlands and Belgium, was the first
authority to start dating its issues on a fairly regular basis, at the end of the 14th
century.
Fig. 1 Fig. 2
I have a turnosgroschen of Aachen with the date MILESIMO CCCC QVARTO =
1404 (Fig. 1). Another one has MILESIMO CCCC XX = 1420 (Fig. 2). On a later
coin, this time of Bingen in the archbishopric of Mainz, the date appears entirely in
Roman numerals, M CCCC XLV = 1445. Note that XL for 40 appears long before
IV for 4.
Around the middle of the 15th century a new complication arose by the introduction
of the so-called Arabic numerals. At first some of these had shapes that would not
readily be recognized at present, z for 2, which co-existed with 2 for a long time,
H or 5Z for 4, *7 for 5, a and > for 7.
The increasingly popular Arabic numerals were used side by side with the Roman
ones for dating, as they continue to be down to our times. Apart from the fact that
on some coin the dates omitted the millennium or the centuries, things seemed to have
settled down. For instance, among other early dated coins I have pieces of the
146
Burgundian Netherlands dated 15?a8, and from Liege dated LXXVIIl, both standing
for 1478, as well as a half weisspfenning of Cleves with M CCCC LXXV, and a half
spitzgroschen of Saxe-Meissen with just a V (Fig. 3), both meaning 1475. A
schilling of Pomerania-Stettin has the completely modern looking date 1497.
Fig. 3 Fig. 4
But there was quite a bit of experimenting going on with these newfangled numbering
systems. Several combinations of words, Arabic and Roman numerals were used.
I have a halfgroschen of Juelich-Berg dated M CCCCC z = 1502 (Fig. 4). Note the
five Cs for D and the z for two. Quite commonly "I" was used for 1, but that does
not catch the eye. However, in World Coin News of July 1997 Alan Herbert mentions
the existence of Brandenburg groschen dated 150II and 150HI for 1502 and 1503!
Some of the more interesting combinations occur on the short lived coinage of the
city of Franeker in the Netherlands province of Friesland. The rare coins of Franeker
were catalogued by the late Anton Puister in the Jaarboek voor Munt - en
Penningkunde 1981. One may be seen in James N. Roberts’ 1996 book on The Silver
Coins of Medieval France, which covers a wider area than the title suggests. The
known half vuurijzers (half briquets) carry dates like 1$ 8a = 1487, or MILESTO
$ 9o = 1490. Mine, Fig. 5, published here for the first time, has the date indicated
as follows: AN(NO DOMI)NI MCCCC IXo for 1490. I know of no other coin
where the IX stands for any other than the terminal nine. Note too that in both 1490
dates the zero is rather small, as if the concept of this numeral representing ten times
the preceding amount was still unfamiliar. Nearby cities like Leeuwarden used either
straight Roman numerals like MCCCCLXXU = 1472, or combinations like MCCCC
87 = 1487.
I’ll restrict myself to this selection, but I expect that there are many for examples of
odd combinations. Maybe your appetite has been whetted to look for others. Happy
hunting!
147
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS AND COINS - CHAFFER 6
Intermezzo: how strange the situations sometimes were in The Netherlands
Kees Pannekeet, Slootdorp, The Netherlands
After Rudolf of Diepholt, bishop of Utrecht (1423-1455), died, duke Philip the Good
of Burgundy made his bastard son David of Burgundy the new bishop (1455-1496).
The people of Utrecht and some important nobles in the diocese were not happy with
that choice. It led to new uprisings which are known as "Hoekse and Kabeljauwse
twisten". These are fights between the party of the "Hoeken" ("Hooks") and the party
of the "Kabeljauwen" ("Cods"). The uprisings took on such forms that in 1481 the
city of Utrecht even chose their own bishop as an opponent to the official bishop.
This opponent was the 19 year old Engelbert of Cleves (Germany) who was the
brother of duke Jan (John) of Cleves. This happening led to various battles between
the party of Engelbert (Hooks) and the party of the official bishop David (Cods).
Holland and Archduke Maximilian of Austria (grandfather of David) supported the
party of the bishop David. Utrecht was supported by duke John of Cleves and some
local nobles in Cleves and in the diocese of Utrecht One of those nobles in the
uprising against bishop David was viscount Jan (John) of Montfoort.
The city and people of Utrecht suffered severely as a result of the fights so in 1482
they wanted to talk about peace. However those first talks had no effect and the
struggle went on. Meanwhile pope Sixtus IV, on request of Bishop David, had
excommunicated the city of Utrecht and Montfoort. This means that officially it was
forbidden to perform services in the churches but the people of Utrecht forced the
priests to perform them anyway. John of Montfoort tried to keep up the struggle but
his opponents were too strong. Even Engelbert of Cleves had departed back to
Germany. When the people of Utrecht saw that the struggle did not go very well they
believed John of Montfoort was guilty for that and he was imprisoned. They
summoned bishop David to the city of Utrecht and he immediately started to negotiate
with the captured John of Montfoort. He told him that he would be released if he
should donate his city (Montfoort) to the diocese of Utrecht. John probably refused
because he remained captured. Meanwhile Engelbert of Cleves had formed a new
army together with Hendrik (Henri) of Nijveld, advanced to Utrecht and captured the
city. Bishop David had been in possession of his city for only 17 days. He was
captured and was held prisoner in a brothel before he was taken to Amersfoort. This
was too much for his grandfather Maximilian, the Archduke of Austria. He formed
a large army and took the city of Utrecht. The city had to pay him 40.000 golden
guilders as a war debt and bishop David was liberated from his imprisonment in
Amersfoort. On August 31, 1483 the city of Utrecht was forced to accept him as the
legal bishop and to obey him in all matters of the church. At first Engelbert of Cleves
was captured and imprisoned in the city of Gouda but later he was set free and went
back to Germany.
During his short power as an opposing bishop (1481-1483), Engelbert struck two
types of coins which are now extreme rarities. One was a silver coin named
"witpenning" ("White penny"), this was the name for silver coins (mainly groats)
148
which contained a high amount of silver. The other coin was a golden guilder with
on the obverse a picture of Saint Martin sitting on a throne and on the reverse the
weapons of Cleves and Mark. The legends on the coins refer to Engelbert as the
bishop of Utrecht. Where the coins were struck is not certain, the two most likely
possibilities are the city of Utrecht or a mint in Cleves (Germany).
(This short history article was originally transmitted on the INTERNET, and will be
followed by additional chapters, or episodes, as the author described them in his
original transmission.)
HOLY COINS
The above is not a pun - there actually is a case on record where the Good Book was
used to make coins. Here’s how it happened:
In 1574, Spain possessed what is now the Low Countries by right of occupation,
while the people of the Low Countries were not all that happy with the Spanish rule,
possibly little would have happened had it not been for the religious wars. Spain, the
staunch supporter of the established Roman Church, saw protestantism spring up all
over Europe and even within her own possessions. Naturally, this had to be put down
and so it was in late 1574 that Spanish forces under Don Francisco Baldez laid siege
to the town of Leyden in what is now South Holland near the Hague.
Even though under siege, a certain amount of commercial business must go on and
under these circumstances, the most important obligation to be met is the soldier’s
pay (they didn’t know what low morale was in those days but they knew what it
could cause). Consequently, there were struck copper "klippes" and a round piece but
these are not our main consideration. The siege stretched out to some four months
and the town was now faced with the need to coin more emergency money but with
no metal to use for the pieces. Why not paper?
Thus is was that the best-quality but least-needed paper was pressed into service and
it happened to be from the Roman Church Litanies. If any of the population had
misgivings of turning Holy Books to the use of Mammon, it is not recorded.
Minority dissention, especially in religion, was not brooked in 16th century Europe -
if Leyden was mostly Protestant, you may be sure that it was 100% so. And so it
was that the Burgemeister and Town Council caused Hugo Gaal (son of Nicholas),
Gerard (son of Wiggert) and Thierry van Kessel to "coin" these pieces of 5-sols with
a lion (with sword & shield on one type, with a banner on another).
How did the siege turn out? Nearby dikes were opened and supplies boated to the
town (while the Spanish were getting wet). The siege was lifted and is
commemorated every October 3 to this day. The Prince of Orange founded the
University of Leyden there in 1575 and it almost immediately became one of the
higher institutes of learning in Europe.
(From Collectors Research Limited price
list 69-8, April 26, 1969)
149
BOOK NEWS & REVIEWS
Heraldic Coats of Arms on Coins of the World, 1 700-1998: Complete Descriptions. By
Charles R. Hosch. Spiral bound, 8 1/2” x 11”, 327 pp., illustrations, maps, glossary,
and bibliography. Available from Regal Treasures, Ltd., P.O. Box 7569, Marietta,
GA 30065. Price is $20.00 postpaid.
Recently, the publication of Mr. Hosch’s National Coats of Arms on World Banknotes ,
c. 1 800-1 997: Complete Descriptions was announced in these pages. At that time, it was
noted that a companion volume covering coins was in preparation. That companion
volume is now available. Even a cursory review of the work reveals that it is fully the
equal in every respect to its predecessor. Indeed, in many respects, it surpasses the
volume on world banknotes.
The present volume describes the coats of arms appearing on world coins since 1 700,
including the sometimes complex heraldic arms on the coinages of the Austrian states,
German states, German notgeld, Italian states and Swiss cantons. The main body of the
work is devoted to “plain English” descriptions of the various coats of arms. One of the
great attractions of this work is that it often provides more historical detail about the
particular elements of the heraldic symbols than a “straight” heraldic description would
provide. For instance, most numismatists are quite familiar with the image of the Order
of the Golden Fleece as it often appears on many coins. How many know, though, the
following?:
THE ORDER OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE appears on many Spanish
arms. It originated in Bruges as the Order of the House of Burgundy in
January 1429, and became one of the select orders of Europe. With the
death of Carlos II of Spain (then head of the House of Habsburg, to whom
control of the Order had descended, through the marriage of Maria of
Burgundy to Maximilian of Austria) in 1 700, without heir, the Order was
divided into an Austrian and Spanish branch, each of which continued to
make awards. The Order has only one class with a neck badge but no
breast star. The Badge Appendant consists of a gold ram’s fleece
suspended by its middle from a blue and white Feuerstein, or flint stone,
with red rays or flames emanating from each side, which in turn is
hanging from a coronet-shaped piece showing Jason slaying the dragon;
above this is a “fire-steel” shaped like an ornamental B on its side
(allegedly for Burgundy, and the design of the links of the Collar).
Following each description of a coat of arms is a listing of the Krause-Mishler catalogue
numbers of the coins that depict that particular coat of arms. The author cautions that
where a given coat of arms appears on several coins, the listing of catalogue numbers is
not intended to be complete but is rather a sample selection of several coins with that
coat of arms.
4
150
The work also includes an introduction, a bibliography, and appendices covering such
diverse areas as an explanation of heraldic colors, a glossary of heraldic terms, a
consolidated listing of nation/states, and maps of the German states and Austrian noble
houses.
This is a well-presented study which should be of interest to all students of numismatics.
Coats of arms are an integral part of our art and frequently are a medallic tribute or
memorial to the ever changing political, dynastic, and/or geographic histories of coin
issuing authorities, whether an 18th century European sovereign or a 20th century
people’s republic in Asia. When we are familiar with the significance of the heraldic
symbolism embedded within the coins we collect and study, we are familiarizing
ourselves with the historical context of the coins themselves. This affordable work is
recommended for inclusion in your library.
Reviewed by Donald S. Yarab
Indian Paper Money Since 1950. By Kishore Jhunjhun walla at $20.00 plus $3.00
for postage in U.S. funds. Mail orders should be sent to Kishore S.
Jhunjhunwalla, Currencies and Coins, 519, Arun Chambers, 80, Tardeo Road,
Bombay, India 400 034. The softcover, 74 page book is printed on 8.25" x 11.75"
pages and contains over 140 color photographs of notes at 50% of their original
size, plus 3 maps with two in full color.
The book is written in English and gives the reader an introduction into Indian paper
money from independence of British rule to the present. A breakdown of security
features of modem Indian bank notes, International Bank Note Society guidelines on
grading and terminology in regards to Indian bank notes are covered in detail. There
are also two tables listing signature varieties.
The notes are arranged chronologically in ascending order of denomination, one rupee
- 10,000 rupees. Five categories of rarity have been defined from common to
extremely rare.
I found the book very easy to use and the photographs are excellent Besides
Government of India notes and Reserve Bank of India notes, rare varieties of notes
used as legal tender in the Arab sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf and special notes
issued for pilgrims to Mecca are listed.
The book is very well organized and thorough. If this is an area of paper money
collecting that interests you, this book should be added to your library. The author
has done an excellent job.
Reviewed by Frank Clark
151
MEMBER NOTICE PAGE
David E. Seelve, P. O. Box 356, North Chili, NY 14514; I would like to obtain
fixed price lists, special offers, etc. from WORLDWIDE COINS that I don’t currency
have. I am trying to put together a complete set. Please write.
NOTICE; The Canadian Numismatic Research Society published the 1997 volume
of their Transactions in December, 1977. Volume 33 contains 27 indexed articles,
covering 104 pages, published in four separate quarterly issues in 1997. The articles
are based on original research and most cover Canadian tokens, medals, and scrip.
Volume 33 of the Transactions is available from the editor, Mr. Harry James, P. O.
Box 22022, Elmwood Square Post Office, 204 First Avenue, St. Thomas, Ontario
N5R 6A1, Canada. Price is $16.00. Information courtesy of Jerry Remick.
David E. Seelve, P. O. Box 356, North Chili, NY 14514; I would like to obtain
fixed prices lists, special offers, etc. that I issued from 1969 to 1985. There were lists
under my name as well as the name COINS OF EUROPE, issued from Middleport,
New York and Newtown, Pennsylvania. I am trying to put together a complete set.
Please write.
********************************************************************
NUMISMATIC EXTRACTS FROM SELECTED LITERATURE
(The following is extracted from a narrative of George Alexander Thompson, a British
diplomat in Guatemala during 1825.)
The late Mr. Secretary Canning,* in his letter of 3rd of January 1835 to Mr.
Morier, instructed me, after the signing of the Mexican treaty, to proceed to
Guatemala, there to ascertain "The present state of its political government, and the
disposition of the people, its resources, financial, military, commercial, and territorial,
the amount of its population, the number and wealth of its towns, its principal means
of communication with itself and with the exterior;" — and "that I should draw up a
report upon those heads and upon any other points, on which I might be able to
obtain information, respecting Guatemala, of interest to his Majesty’s Government. — I
revolved in my mind the importance of these subjects, at the breakfast which I took
with the hospitable family, whose house I had entered, and of whom I shall have
occasion to speak more hereafter. I had made inquiries about a house; but, finding
that I could not obtain a respectable one, without taking it for a fixed period, and,
even then, paying 6,000 dollars as a traspaso, (a good will repayable by the next
tenant,) in advance, I renounced the idea, and became domiciliated with the family
in question.
* George Canning, British minister for foreign affairs from 1822 to 1827, died in the
latter year.
(From Travels in Central America , by Franklin
Parker, U. of Florida Press, 1970)
152
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